Damar

Notes

In 2372 Gul Dukat was serving as the captain of the freighter Groumall, a posting given to him because of his actions in rescuing his half-Bajoran daughter Ziyal. Damar was one of the officers who served under Dukat on the freighter. Damar and the rest of the crew followed Dukat when he acquired a Klingon Bird of Prey during the Klingon occupation of Cardassian space.1

When Dukat secretly plotted to become leader of Cardassia under the Dominion, Damar continued to serve at his side. He was with Dukat when he led the Dominion/Cardassian fleet which captured Deep Space Nine2 and served aboard the station afterwards where he was responsible for the efforts to take down the Federation minefield which prevented Dominion reinforcements from coming through the wormhole.3

Damar was fond of drinking, this would become a major weakness in his character – he revealed his plan for taking down the minefield to Quark whilst under the influence, not realising that Quark was assisting Major Kira’s resistance cell. Kira was able to inform the Federation of the plan via the courier Morn, prompting the Federation to launch an effort to re-take the station.3

As a Allies moved against the station Damar attempted to convince Ziyal to give her father more of the respect he felt was his due. The effort went badly, and when Ziyal confessed to assisting the resistance in sabotaging the station’s weapons systems, Damar killed her in retaliation. The death of Ziyal, combined with the failure of Dominion reinforcements to come through the wormhole thanks to the interference of the Bajoran prophets and the subsequent loss of Deep Space Nine, prompted Dukat to have a mental breakdown and remain on the station as the rest of the Dominion personnel escaped.4

With Dukat in captivity, Damar was promoted to Legate and appointed as the leader of Cardassia by the Dominion. He was even more of a token leader than Dukat had been, and all power over Cardassian affairs passed to Weyoun.5

As the Allies achieved more success in the war Weyoun began to blame the Cardassians for the Dominion’s inability to achieve victory. Damar turned more and more to drink and a succession of female companions. In 2375 Damar was forced to ally with the Breen, making the Cardassians very much junior partners in the new alliance - all of Damar’s tactical plans had to be submitted to the Breen commander Thot Gor.6 Damar’s hatred of the Dominion finally reached a point where he felt compelled to take action. He assisted Worf and Ezri Dax in escaping the Dominion after their capture, and began to plan a rebellion against the Dominion.7

Damar launched his rebellion after the Allies were forced to retreat from the Chin’Toka system. The rebellion opened with an attack on the Dominion cloning facilities on Rondac III.8 Knowing that his followers had little experience in this kind of warfare, Damar requested aid from the Federation. Kira Nerys was commissioned as a Starfleet officer and sent to Cardassia along with Odo and Garak.9 Some of Damar’s followers had great difficulty accepting Kira’s advice, and Damar was even forced to kill his friend Rusot when he challenged Kira.10

The Jem’Hadar launched a successful effort to wipe out the rebellion, killing Damar’s wife and son and trapping him and the leaders of the rebellion on Cardassia. Damar came to realise that he had begun to achieve a heroic status amongst the Cardassian people because of his fight, and he used this reputation to promote a popular uprising against the Dominon. 11 Weyoun responded to this by destroying Lakarian City, killing millions of Cardassians in an attempt to subdue the population. However, the act did not generate the required response. The outraged Cardassian people fought all the harder, whilst the Cardassian fleet switched sides in mid-battle and began to fight with the Allies against the Breen and Dominion.12

In the final stages of the War Damar led an assault against the Dominion headquarters on Cardassia, hoping to gain access to the female Founder. He led a charge against the compound and was mortally wounded; his last words were to urge his companions to continue the fight against the Dominion.12